Beet Soup.

I know, yuck!  Insert memories of some god-awful purple stuff with stringy beef. My own Polish grandma didn’t even serve it to us.

I recently asked for help — I had come to the end of the month, but we hadn’t eaten our month’s worth of winter vegetables. And it was time to pick up 25 lbs of new veggies. (side note, what the heck DID we eat if we had so many carrots, beets, parsnips and squash left over??). A friend pointed me to this soup, a gingery roasted beet and sweet potato soup on NPR’s webpage. I had all the ingredients (except cilantro) and I have a rockstar blender. Ok I’ll try it.

Here’s the recipe:

gingery roasted beet and sweet potato soup

Makes 4 servings

3 red beets (about 1 to 1 1/4 pound)

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks (about 1 pound)

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon, divided

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 medium yellow onion
2 stalks celery, diced

2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

Juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger

1/3 cup fresh chopped cilantro

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 (15-ounce) can light coconut milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash and peel the beets and sweet potato, and cut into 1-inch pieces. Roast beets in skin, peel them when done. Mucho easier. (You may want to wear gloves, as the beets may stain your hands. But then again, purple is the new black.) Peel and chop sweet potato and onion. No dicing necessary on either — it’s going in the blender later. Place beets, chopped onion and sweet potato on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and black pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned and tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from oven and set aside.

In a large pot over medium-high heat, add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add onions and celery and saute 5 to 7 minutes, until softened and lightly browned. Transfer the cooked beets and potato to the pot. Add the broth, lime juice, ginger, cilantro and cayenne pepper and stir well. Cook for 10 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before pureeing. Working in batches, add soup and coconut milk to a blender and puree until smooth. For a velvety smooth consistency, you can strain the soup through a sieve. I like a few tiny bumps, so I leave it as is. Season with salt and pepper to taste.